The Holiday Season Often Proves to Be a Nightmare for Misophonia Sufferers.
One young woman hopes for being with her family over the holidays, but admits one of the only ways she'll endure is by wearing her earplugs - especially during Christmas dinner.
For her, the holidays often feels like a notably tough period as the sounds of other people chewing, sipping loudly and breathing heavily cause her extremely uncomfortable.
"I experience this feeling of immediate anxiety, my whole body will just freeze and it feels like I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to somehow control these triggers."
The individual has experienced misophonia for several years and for her that causes the Christmas time "exceptionally stressful".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to specific noises, particularly those made by individuals.
It's surprisingly common in the UK. Experts discovered almost one in five people suffer from it.
Often it's noises linked to eating or drinking that cause distress, including examples such as chewing, breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
Triggering Stress
The sufferer notes: "There are so many various auditory triggers at the holidays and that can be anxiety inducing and make you want to avoid it.
"Those close to me are supportive, but I'm very aware that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a constant struggle of enduring my distress to make sure others enjoy themselves."
So it's obvious why the supposedly joyous period can rapidly become a source of agony for those with the condition.
Noises that may appear innocuous, like someone sipping a beverage, unwrapping gifts, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can trigger a visceral feeling that can even cause them skipping events entirely.
She, a 21-year-old student, who has dealt with sound sensitivity since aged 10, states currently her plan is to listen to music to manage the meal. Usually, she would often retreat in a separate space to minimize distressing triggers.
She says her sensitivity is worse around people she's most comfortable with, so Christmas is always "challenging".
"There's an expectation to socialize with family, and I want to, but it's physically and mentally challenging.
"The sensation is this uncontrollable anger comes over me, which can feel shameful, or I'll feel panicked and burst into tears and then the stress response will kick in.
"It may seem as if I'm being oversensitive and overreacting, but it's hard to explain if you haven't felt it."
Three Ways to Cope
If you suffer then there are some different techniques you can use to handle the situation, based on advice from specialists.
- Visualise an Alternative: Imagination is essential. Attempt to link the specific noise causing distress with an unrelated image. So for example, try to picture someone's slurping is just a waterfall. By doing this is to retrain your mind that the sound affecting you poses no threat.
- Use Humor: Have a bit of fun and make the irritating noise into a challenge with the person. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly try copying the noise. By joining in, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an active participant. And the competition element should help distract your brain and make you somewhat less sensitive.
- Create a Scenario: One more method is to try to invent a reason about the reason someone making the noise is having to make that sound. For example if someone was making a nasal sound, maybe they are not at their best or are troubled. The idea is changing the meaning of the sound. Even though the noise remains identical, your interpretation of it moves from being annoying, to feeling a little more neutral towards it.
